ABSTRACT

This article explores how young gay men who are involve in Lima’s middle-class gay scene made sense of their intimate relationships regarding discourses about sexuality, intimacy, and love. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 14 such men, I found that diverse and seemingly conflicting discursive configurations coexisted and intertwined within aspects of their relationships such as monogamy, sex-role positioning, and interpretations of sexual intimacy. Although participants mostly endorsed “modern” categories, more attuned with global messages of gender equality and egalitarianism, they also combined them with discourses that were more “traditional”—gendered and related to romantic love. Participants negotiated these tensions through a pattern of reflexive and unreflexive (dis)identifications, which were embedded in structural socioeconomic conditions. These findings acknowledge the complexities of Latin American middle-class gay sexualities and challenge rigid models of same-sex desire, as well as arguments about the exceptionally reflexive qualities of “modern” gay identities.

摘要

本文探讨了参与利马中产阶级同性恋场景的年轻男同性恋者如何理解他们关于性、亲密​​和爱情话语的亲密关系。通过对 14 位这样的男性的深入采访，我发现在他们的关系的各个方面，例如一夫一妻制、性别角色定位和对性亲密的解释，多样且看似冲突的话语配置共存并交织在一起。尽管参与者大多赞同“现代”类别，更符合性别平等和平等主义的全球信息，但他们也将它们与更“传统”的话语结合起来——性别化并与浪漫爱情相关。参与者通过一种反身和非反身（反）认同的模式来协商这些紧张局势，它们嵌入在结构性社会经济条件中。这些发现承认拉丁美洲中产阶级同性恋性行为的复杂性，并挑战了同性欲望的僵化模式，以及关于“现代”同性恋身份的反身特质的争论。